Wait List

During the change of schedule period, students often wish to enroll in sections that have reached their enrollment capacity and are closed. The automated wait list process provides an opportunity for students to enroll in closed sections as space becomes available. This process also provides the colleges/departments with information for making decisions concerning their course offerings for current and future terms.

The automated wait list process will allow students to place their names on a wait list for closed sections for which they are eligible to enroll. When a space becomes available, the first student on the wait list is automatically enrolled via an overnight process in the course and an e-mail is sent to the student’s CWU email address notifying the student of the change. This process continues in order of the wait list as space becomes available. Students are restricted to fifteen active wait list credits per term.

The wait list is convenient and easy to use. Students follow the normal registration process on the web via their Safari account. The student gets placed on the wait list at the time he/she attempts to enroll in a full course section by checking the "OK to Wait List" checkbox that will be displayed when enrolling in a class. The class schedule will confirm the status of these sections as “Wait list” and inform the student of his/her position on the wait list. The student must meet all prerequisites to be placed on the wait list. If the wait list is full, the "OK to Wait List" checkbox will not appear as an option. The wait list process will be run once each night from the start of early registration through the end of the second day of classes.

How Does the Wait List Work?

Active students on a wait list will be enrolled as space becomes available on a first-on/first-off basis.

Student eligibility and course registration eligibility rules, such as prerequisites, time conflicts, etc., are always enforced.

Students can wait list for multiple sections of the same course. However, once the student is enrolled into an available section, he/she is automatically dropped from the wait list for the other sections. The only exception to this would be for courses that are repeatable for credit in the same term.

If a lecture course has a zero credit lab, students cannot wait list the same lecture section or the same lab section more than once. For example, a student may not wait list BIOL 181-01 lecture with more than one BIOL 181 lab section.

Students must be enrolled or wait listed in both lecture and lab sections if they are required. A student may not wait list for a lecture and be enrolled for a lab or vice versa.

Students who enroll for a course and wait list for an additional section, will not be enrolled from the wait list if a space becomes available.

Faculty may give permission to override a wait list at any time and enroll the student by signing a change of schedule form.